7 IRS Enforcement Priorities Heading Into 2025
Posted in Offshore Account Update on November 22, 2024 | Share
While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) consistently enforces all aspects of federal tax compliance, it also prioritizes certain specific aspects of compliance from time to time. The agency’s recently released 2024 Financial Report provides some valuable insight into its enforcement priorities for 2025. Learn more from Washington D.C. tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group.
The IRS’ Enforcement Priorities in 2024 Will Remain Priorities in the New Year
In its 2024 Financial Report, the IRS identifies four general areas where it focused a significant portion of its enforcement resources over the past year. Based on our experience representing taxpayers over this same time period, we can identify seven more specific areas that will almost certainly remain enforcement priorities for the IRS in 2025:
1. High-Income Corporation and Partnership Tax Compliance
High-income corporation and partnership tax compliance is one of the IRS’ stated long-term enforcement priorities. The IRS has recently initiated audits targeting 76 of the largest corporate and partnership taxpayers, and it intends to expand the scope of this effort in 2025.
2. High-Income and High-Wealth Individual Taxpayer Compliance
High-income and high-wealth individual taxpayer compliance is a continuing priority for the IRS as well. In particular, the IRS is focusing on individual taxpayers who have more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt and those who have estimated unreported annual income of $400,000 or more.
3. Pass-Through Entity Tax Compliance
The IRS recently launched a new enforcement initiative focused on pass-through entity tax compliance. The agency’s newly established pass-through field operations unit will be targeting partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs) and trusts of all sizes in 2025 and beyond.
4. Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance
Cryptocurrency tax compliance is another priority area for the IRS. With the popularity of cryptocurrency investing continuing to grow and with many cryptocurrency values rising following the 2024 presidential election, this will almost certainly be a key enforcement priority for the IRS in the years to come.
5. Online Gaming and Gambling Tax Compliance
As online gaming and gambling continue to grow in popularity as well, these are also becoming areas of concern for the IRS. Similar to its cryptocurrency enforcement efforts, the IRS relies on intermediaries to disclose taxpayers’ transactions and holdings so that it can pursue audits and investigations as warranted.
6. Offshore Account Disclosure Compliance
Offshore account disclosure compliance is a perennial enforcement priority for the IRS. The data in the IRS’ 2024 Financial Report suggest that this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.
7. PPP and ERC Fraud Enforcement
Finally, while not mentioned specifically in the IRS’ 2024 Financial Report, we know that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Employee Retention Credit (ERC) fraud enforcement remain ongoing priorities for the IRS as well.
Request an Appointment with Washington D.C. Tax Lawyer Kevin E. Thorn
If you have questions or concerns about any of these areas—or any other area—of federal tax compliance heading into 2025, we encourage you to get in touch. To request an appointment with Washington D.C. tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, please call 202-349-4033 or contact us confidentially online today.
